The meaning of RELAPSE is the act or an instance of backsliding, worsening, or subsiding. How to use relapse in a sentence.

RELAPSED definition: 1. past simple and past participle of relapse 2. to become ill or start behaving badly again, after…. Learn more.

RELAPSE definition: to fall or slip back into a former state, practice, etc.. See examples of relapse used in a sentence.

If you say that someone relapses into a way of behaving that is undesirable, you mean that they start to behave in that way again. 'I wish I did,' said Phil Jordan, relapsing into his usual gloom. …

To return to a former state. 2. a. To become sicker after partial recovery from an illness. b. To recur. Used of an illness. 3. To slip back into bad ways; backslide. A return to a former state, …

Dec 21, 2025 · During a relapse, a person returns to using a substance. A single use might cause a person to feel unmotivated, guilty, or ashamed of their actions. It can also result in intense …

re•lapse /v. rɪˈlæps; n. also ˈrilæps/ v., -lapsed, -laps•ing, n. to fall or slip back into a former state or practice: to relapse into silence. Pathology to fall back into illness after seeming to get better …

A relapse is a decline, especially of someone's health. If your grandmother survived cancer only to have it return two years later, you could say she suffered a relapse. Relapse implies that …

The country soon relapsed into chaos. She stayed out of trouble for a long time, but then she relapsed into her old ways. Many former smokers relapse [=begin smoking again] in times of …

relapsed, adj. meanings, etymology, pronunciation and more in the Oxford English Dictionary